![]() His Luke Matthews is batted off his horse by a bear and even gets to ride a sidecar motorcycle as in his earlier Sergio Leone film Duck You Sucker: "Just tell me how you start it, how you make it go, and how you stop it." Coburn is a total embarrassment as a flamenco dancer, however. James Coburn is just beginning to look long in the tooth, and plays his part with commendable restraint. Her other big adventure of 1975, the exciting The Wind and the Lion, was much more successful. Bergen was good in practically everything she did, including some pretty difficult roles. Candice Bergen is fine as the rough-edged mystery beauty. He also spends half the race looking after the welfare of the other contestants. An ex- Rough Rider who lost the love of his life in Cuba, Sam Clayton rescues horses from cruel mistreatment and gives an orphaned colt to an ecstatic farm boy. Gene Hackman heads the all-star cast with authority and good will, playing a character written to be admired. The hardy Mexican in the race dulls his painful cracked tooth with that new miracle pill - heroin! Hackman and Bergen fix him up with a shell casing for a temporary cap, giving the title Bite the Bullet a literal spin. They get drunk and visit prostitutes, but they also suffer back pains, get sick, and are accidentally poisoned by quack medicines. The cowboys of 1908 are more like outcast laborers - reckless fools when they're young and stubborn fools when they're old. This still may not be the 'real' West, but even in its glorification, Bite the Bullet abandons western movie vendettas and shootouts in favor of more interesting details and events. The grueling race becomes a test of both beasts and riders. ![]() Gambler Luke Matthews (James Coburn) has foolishly bet his bankroll on winning he and the horse-loving, thoughtful Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman) are ex-Rough Riders with differing philosophies of life. A Mexican vaquero (Mario Arteaga) needs the money for his family, and signs up even though he's suffering from a badly chipped tooth. Ex-prostitute Miss Jones (Candice Bergen) may have an ulterior motive for giving the race a go. Carbo, a young would-be gunslinger (Jan-Michael Vincent) arrogantly thinks he has what it takes to win, while aging cowpoke 'Mister' (Ben Johnson) signs on because he desperately wants to be somebody before he dies. News magnate Jack Parker (Dabney Coleman) enters a picked rider on his champion steed, and a real knight, Sir Norfolk (Ian Bannen) arrives with his English riding gear and a hearty attitude. In the first decade of the 20th century a newspaper promotes a 700-mile endurance horse race that attracts adventurers, gamblers, cowboys and wannabes from across the globe. There's nothing fantastic or unrealistic about the story premise. Remastered by Sony in top-quality High Definition it's a pleasure to watch, a vacation from modern problems. Concentrating on adventure as opposed to gunplay and featuring a fresh cast in interesting roles, it deserved far better than the indifference with which it was met at the box office. Lusty, high-spirited and full of the pleasures of the American western, the 1975 release is easily the best of the director's later films, and a standout western of the post- The Wild Bunch era. We note with great pleasure the release of Richard Brooks' Bite the Bullet on Blu-ray. Written, Produced and Directed by Richard Brooks Starring Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Ian Bannen, Jan-Michael Street Date Ma/ available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 34.95
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